"Some of the facts of the indictment include people being struck with machetes, people once they're murdered being dismembered. One particular victim had his heart cut out,” said U.S attorney Robert K. Hur.

It’s this type of brutality President Trump has honed in on in many speeches including when he said in July 2017, “We’re going to destroy the vile criminal cartel MS-13.”

He tweeted about MS-13 this week, and praised the efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

But some critics say ICE, and the Trump administration as a whole, is going about tackling the MS-13 problem all wrong by targeting immigrants trying to flee gang violence, not be a part of it.

“It is not targeting MS-13. It is targeting people who are seeking asylum in this country, who are seeking to work and support their families,” said David Bier, an immigration policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.